A Washington Mountain Elopement with Star Photos + a Surprise Northern Lights Appearance

Not every elopement needs to take you somewhere you’ve never been before. Sometimes, the most meaningful place to get married is somewhere you find yourselves revisiting over and over again. For Marynne and Zak, that place was the North Cascades.

As Washington locals living in Bellingham, the mountains have always been part of their relationship. They met through an outdoor adventure group, their first date was at Heybrook Lookout, and Zak proposed to Marynne at Lake Serene. Their relationship has always had a way of taking them outside to scale some sort of landform, so when it came time to get married, there was nothing they wanted more than to continue that tradition.

They chose Artist Point and Heather Meadows for their Washington mountain elopement, and spent their day surrounded by some of the landscapes they loved so much.

If you’re dreaming of your own Washington mountain elopement, we’ve put together a complete Artist Point elopement guide to help you start planning your day in this incredible part of the Cascades.

Marynne + Zak’s Washington Mountain Elopement

A Heather Meadows Elopement Ceremony with Family

At first, Marynne and Zak imagined eloping just the two of them. But their family really wanted to be a part of the experience. Eventually, they found a compromise that felt right and 15 of their loved ones joined them for a short ceremony in the mountains. 

Including family meant that we had to think carefully about accessibility, especially because it was important to Marynne that her grandmother, who uses a wheelchair, could be there. Heather Meadows is one of the most accessible elopement locations in Washington that doesn’t skimp on the views, and it ended up being the perfect location for Marynne and Zak to exchange vows. 

If you’re deciding whether or not to include family in your elopement, we’ve also shared how to include family in your elopement while still keeping the day centered around the two of you.

But the ceremony itself was not their main event. Marynne and Zak wanted their day to feel simple and calm and be filled with time for the two of them to wander the trails they love so much. So they kept it short. Their ceremony lasted just a few minutes and was followed by a brief cake celebration with family. Then, it was time for the mountains.

Once we said goodbye to family, the day became exactly what Marynne and Zak had envisioned from the beginning. Just the two of them, wandering through one of their favorite places.

Sunset Adventure at Artist Point

Because the mountains were their priority, all Marynne and Zak really wanted was plenty of time to explore and be present in the landscape.

We wandered around, stopping every few minutes to pick fireweed flowers or look at rocks and critters in the lake. It was easy to see they were in their element. Even though they had seen these details hundreds of times before, they still took the time to really notice them, experiencing the landscape with the same sense of wonder they might have had the first time.

One of the things that was most important to Zak was capturing a wide landscape photo of Mt. Shuksan that they could hang in their home. They were also really hoping for a beautiful sunset, but the weather was cloudy that day, and for a while, it looked like the sunset we were all waiting for might not happen.

But then, as we were making our way back down the trail, the clouds began to move and suddenly, we were faced with one of the most beautiful mountain sunsets we’ve ever seen (and trust us, we’ve seen a lot of sunsets here because this is also our home). 

Needless to say, Marynne and Zak were so excited! We all stopped to take it in, watching the mountain colors shift from purple and pink to pink and orange as the light shifted around us.

Artist Point is one of our favorite places in the North Cascades, and we’ve photographed several very different elopement experiences here. Check out a few of our past couples below.

A Second Night with Star Photos with a Surprise Northern Lights Appearance

While the sunset we got to witness that day was incredible, the clouds weren’t quite as cooperative later that night. Star photos were incredibly important to Marynne and Zak and, since they live nearby we came up with an idea. Rather than force the night to happen in the original timeline, we asked if they were open to coming back for star photos another evening.

And as luck would have it, the night we picked for star photos happened to also be the night the Northern Lights made an appearance. 

A northern lights elopement is never something we can promise. The aurora depends on solar activity, weather, cloud cover, and a whole lot of other things outside our control. Even during periods of increased activity, there is still no guarantee you’ll see them from your chosen location.

But, as was the case with Marynne and Zak, sometimes the conditions line up perfectly. The aurora appeared in soft purple tones over the mountains, with a little Milky Way visible through the darkness. Marynne and Zak had decided to wear their everyday clothes because that’s how they usually are in these mountains, and they wanted some of their photos to reflect that. 

Vendors who made this sunset Mt Baker elopement possible:

Photography & Officiant: Adventure and Vow

Wedding Dress: Etsy

Hair: Jennilyn Michel

Ready to Plan Your Own Washington Mountain Elopement?

Marynne and Zak’s Washington mountain elopement was a good reminder that your elopement doesn’t have to be about checking every box or creating a perfectly packed schedule. It can simply be about choosing a place that means something to you and leaving enough room for you to experience the day at a pace that feels right for you.

Whether you’re dreaming of a sunset Mt. Baker elopement, a longer adventure through the North Cascades, or hoping to catch a glimpse of the aurora, we would love to help you build a day that feels grounded in who you two actually are.

We can’t promise the Northern Lights will show up, but we can help you create an experience that will still be deeply meaningful if they don’t.

If you’re ready to start dreaming up your own Washington mountain elopement, complete the form below, and we’ll start figuring out what your day could look like together.

Blog post written by Sonder Studio